[Betsi]

I have a hoppin' social life. (I know, tough to be me, right?) This makes it really hard to eat right, since dinner time often involves eating at a restaurant (usually one that doesn't have a website and is tough to even estimate on FitDay) or snacking at parties.

I'm trying to figure out a good plan to the meal-snack-meal-snack sort of approach that keeps your metabolism zipping along all day that will work with the fact that I am consuming probably 1,000 calories at dinnertime. (Sure, I can watch what I eat at dinner but there's only so far that will take me.)

What do you think, is it doable? I'm ok with consuming 2,000 calories a day, but 1,000 calories split over four mini-meals seems like very little to me.

[bargoo]

1000 calories at dinner ? yi ! My snacks are usually 100 calories or less they might be Laughing Cow Cheese at 35 calories.,non fat yogurt at 60 calories. jello at anywhere from 10 calories to about 60 calorie if it contains fruit, vaious fruits at anywhere from 17 calories for one apricot , amedium apple is about 70 and a medium orange is about 85 there are endless possibilities. The point is to eat about every 3 hours , that will keep you from being ravenous. When you order in a restaurant avoid fried foods, cream sauces and gravies, and rich desserts, It can be done.

[PhotoChick]

I think if you can keep up the snacking, you can cut back on what you eat at restaurants and that will help some.

Also if you can aim for 500 to 800 cals at a restaurant, that helps a lot.

Some things to keep in mind when you order:
- Ask that no butter or mayo be used on your order
- Ask that all sauces/dressings be served on the side
- Ask that any fried foods be substituted with well, almost anything else (e.g. ditch the fries and sub a plain baked potato instead)
Any restaurant will do a plain grilled chicken breast, even if it's not listed on the menu. Or if it's a seafood place, a piece of plain broiled fish with lemon juice. Just ask.
- And a lot of times if you ask your server if there are any off-menu low-cal items, they'll be happy to make suggestions.
- And finally, the biggest problem with restaurants is portion size. Most restaurants have HUGE and unrealistic portions. So ask for a box and before you even begin to eat, remove half the food on your plate and either take it home for lunch the next day or give it to someone at your table who wants it. Or throw it away.

It's not always easy, esp when your friends are tucking into appetisers and big plates of food, but you can do it.

.